


you don't love me yet

by Kaiaxy



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Feels, Enemies to Lovers, Hashirama Is an Idiot as usual, M/M, One Shot, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29807142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiaxy/pseuds/Kaiaxy
Summary: In a world like theirs, soulmates are often seen as a weakness to exploit. A weapon, rather than a chance at happiness that some people like Tobirama are desperate for it to be. Madara, on the other hand, resents the very notion of soulmates. He sees them as nothing more than the danger they constitute: a fatal weakness for the foolish and weak of heart. And perhaps, if one plays their cards right, a stepping stone to success.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Comments: 14
Kudos: 107





	you don't love me yet

In a world like theirs that cuts and bleeds you until you cannot give anymore, leaving you dry and wishing to be dead- if you're lucky enough for even that, or perhaps,  _ unlucky enough _ \- soulmates are nothing more than another tool of war.  _ A valuable tool to use to your advantage _ , Madara recalls his father explaining to him once as a child.  _ The reality that those civilian fools try to romanticize is one that does not exist. _ Soulmates are not kind, they aren’t caring and rarely do they not hurt. Shinobi are ruthless beings that kill more than they save, and soulmates are not much different in that regard. Madara has seen grown men and women return from war in hysterics as they fruitlessly scrubbed at their hands, willing the blood to come off. The next time that they would step into battle would be their last, Madara knows. He’s watched many of his clan do this, they would never return home again, and their family would mourn. Nobody would ask why or what happened, as everyone knows this is the price of soulmates.

  
  


The universal truth of the matter: Soulmates can be as much of a freedom as they are a curse and a death sentence and a breath of fresh air all in one. Soulmates bring with them the promise of pain. Very rarely does anyone ever meet their soulmate outside of the battlefield, and even more rare that they leave it in one piece. Dangerous yet freeing. Sweet yet deadly, a temptress after your heart ready to carve you to bits and pieces if you fall prey to their charm. Everyone has one, but nobody worth their salt wants one, Madara included.

That is the price of soulmates. Madara hopes he never meets his.

He should have known better than that. No longer a child afraid of the future, and now a man who has seen much and done worse, Madara thinks that--maybe--just maybe, that he was wrong.  _ As the White Demon surrenders himself to the Uchiha, Madara hides a grin in the high collar of his mantle.  _

Soulmates aren’t completely useless after all.

  
  


* * *

Tobirama dreams of soulmates and of a world not drenched in blood and tears, a world where his brothers could live peacefully, a world where Senju Tobirama wasn’t molded into a tool for killing, and a world where children could be children and didn’t have to get involved in an adults war no more. He imagines laughter and serenity as opposed to screams and sobs in the night, and fantasizes of no more needless deaths. He eyes the timer on his forearm with curiosity and anticipation, thinks of the person with one just like his, and smiles a little. In a perfect world, he would meet the person he was destined for and start a family. If his destined were a male, they’d adopt and live out their years surrounded by loved ones.

He yearns for a fool's dream. 

Tobirama knows this, but like a frightened child, he holds on tight to this idealistic dream of his as if to ward away the evils of the world. 

If only it were that simple. 

And yet, when Hashirama prattles on about this dream of his ( _ ours _ , a part of him rages at Hashirama), so picturesque he could believe in the certainty of it, Tobirama  _ desires,  _ and it's a dangerous thing for a broken ~~brother person monster tool~~ thing like him. But he does it anyway. He hopes, plans, and holds the embers of hope close to his heart. He tastes tears and blood and knows pain of all varieties, both of the mind and body, and Tobirama  _ survives _ , but never lives. Nobody with a sound mind does in a cruel world like this, and so he builds fortresses and walls upon walls in his mind, brick by brick miles high and dons a mask of apathy as he waits patiently for a day he can make his dreams a reality. Tobirama hears Hashirama call him emotionless and his father’s weapon, and it hurts, and he cracks, but he soldiers on. A bit more broken, a bit more tired, but Tobirama moves on like a  _ good soldier _ . His brother's lights, once full of life, burn out, and he can never forget the feeling of rage and despair it wrought him. He betrays his heart, burns his notes, throws away his dreams, and becomes what Hashirama has always labeled him: an emotionless tool built for killing. He tries to forget everything from Before, but sometimes, when Tobirama is at his weakest and alone, he weeps. A new day begins, and he soldiers on, and no one is any wiser of how worn and weary he is. 

As Hashirama grows strong his father becomes weaker, and one day- Senju Butsuma dies, but by then, it did not matter. His dreams are all but weathered and dead in his mind's eye. He becomes increasingly pragmatic and no longer creates jutsus that create life but destroy it: Senju Tobirama becomes a monster of his own right within his clan, only overshadowed by a god he calls brother.

And then, something unexpected yet expected happens: his timer hits zero, and Tobirama meets his soulmate, a man who wants nothing to do with him other than to use him as a bargaining piece for an alliance. 

The Uchiha war general and clan head, Uchiha Madara- the only other shinobi alive that can fight his brother toe to toe. Hashirama used to go on and on about the kind of man Madara had once been, and so Tobirama takes a leap of faith. He goes against the facts and logic he prides himself with and Tobirama surrenders himself willingly to the Uchiha. He ignores Hashirama’s pleas and Toka’s efforts to stop him. If there is even the slightest of chances of a happy ending for a monster like him, he was going to take it no matter the consequences to himself. Madara doesn’t love him yet, doesn’t get him yet, but perhaps someday he will. 

Tobirama doesn't look back at what he leaves behind and doesn't flinch as a warm weight settles on his neck and clamps on, tightening menacingly. His body betrays him, and he shivers as a deep masculine voice permeates his ear,  _ you'll be good for me, won't you, dear soulmate of mine?  _ He nods as best he could against the vice on his neck.

  
  


The voice, Madara's, chuckles in amusement, and the hand on his neck loosens but doesn't let go.

"I'm glad we could come to an understanding, Senju."

They walk.


End file.
